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We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists

We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists

Documentary · 2012

Takes us inside the world of Anonymous, the radical "hacktivist" collective that has redefined civil disobedience for the digital age. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, then moves to Anonymous' raucous beginnings on the website 4chan. Through interviews with current members, people recently returned from prison or facing trial, writers, academics, activists and major players in various "raids," the documentary traces Anonymous’ evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown movement with a global reach, the most transformative civil disobedience of our time.

Movie details

We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists

2012 Documentary 1h 33m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.2 / 10

10.5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

75 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

66 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Takes us inside the world of Anonymous, the radical "hacktivist" collective that has redefined civil disobedience for the digital age. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, then moves to Anonymous' raucous beginnings on the website 4chan. Through interviews with current members, people recently returned from prison or facing trial, writers, academics, activists and major players in various "raids," the documentary traces Anonymous’ evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown movement with a global reach, the most transformative civil disobedience of our time.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Brian Knappenberger

Written by

Brian Knappenberger

A

Anon2World

Self

A

Anonyops

Self - Anonymous

Julian Assange

Julian Assange

Self - Founder, WikiLeaks (archive footage)

A

Aaron Barr

Self - Former Chief Executive, HBGary Federal

B

Barrett Brown

Self

A

Adrian Chen

Self

Steven Levy

Steven Levy

Self

Court is in session

Put We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.